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Guest
Column: State Sen. Tom O'Mara

"It is altogether fitting
and proper"

ALBANY, May 26 -- Spread throughout the Empire State Plaza
in Albany, tucked here and
there between the State Capitol and other government buildings, are a
number of lesser-known memorials that are among the capital’s quieter,
yet most powerful attractions. There are memorials to the veterans of
World War II, Korea and Vietnam. There’s a Purple Heart Memorial,
and places of tribute to women veterans and others.

They capture the essence of Memorial Day, and I encourage you to visit
them if you ever have the chance [you can view photos and brief descriptions
of many of these memorials online at
http://www.ogs.ny.gov/ESP/CT/Memorials/.]

These
memorials and all the others like them dotting the American landscape
are remindful of the words of Lincoln, at Gettysburg: “We have come
to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those
who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether
fitting and proper that we should do this.”

It remains “fitting and proper” that American citizens throughout
this great land of ours gather every Memorial Day to remember our veterans,
past and present. It is one of our nation’s most important traditions,
a time to celebrate our past, honor our present, and look forward to our
future.

Let’s hope it will always be so.

Many of us locally are meeting in cemeteries, parks and veterans memorials
across the region this Memorial Day, in Penn Yan and Hammondsport, Montour
Falls and Ithaca, Watkins Glen and Dundee, Rock Steam and Southport, among
others. I’ll be attending ceremonies in Elmira, Savona and Horseheads.
There’ll be tributes at the Naval Monument in Watkins Glen, the
Veterans Park nearby Odessa, and other veterans’ monuments, American
Legions and VFWs throughout the region.

There will be specific remembrances this year: of the 150th Anniversary
of the Battle of Gettysburg, and of the last American combat forces leaving
Vietnam forty years ago, in March 1973.

And there will be so many personal recollections shared among friends
and family members of individual veterans -- stories of battles, heroism
and honor and, always, abiding love of community and country.

It is always a great privilege to carry on the essential observance
of Memorial Day.

We must especially remember and salute the men and women who serve in
harm’s way this very moment to keep America strong and the world
safer in the war against terror. They remain shining examples of the bravery,
courage and perseverance on which the American way of life has survived.

It’s a time to reflect on the greatness of a nation built on the
sacrifices of her soldiers, soldiers who still today stand tall to serve
the underlying dreams of our homeland: freedom and peace, compassion and
decency, and democracy.

In remembering, of course, we turn our thoughts and prayers to those
young soldiers whom we've lost from here at home in the recent past.

We honor our wounded warriors.

We salute the millions of veterans living in New York State, and all
of the many millions more across our nation. They have earned our gratitude.

Because of them, we can look into the eyes of our young people this
Memorial Day, the faces of the future, and have faith that they, too,
will be instilled with the spirit to keep America great. To keep believing
that the American way is a good, decent, worthwhile way.

In the end, perhaps this is the greatest justice for all of the missions
flown, for all of the foxholes dug, for the hills taken and the battles
fought. Our soldiers -- American soldiers -- have made and continue to
make the ultimate sacrifice to keep America free, so that she can lead
the way to a more free world. Our soldiers sacrifice to keep alive America’s
promise, so that people throughout the world can look to her for inspiration.
Our soldiers sacrifice to keep America strong, so that other nations can
draw courage from her strength.

For as long as we remember and keep our soldiers alive in our hearts,
we will stand as we do -- free in a land of opportunity and promise.

[To read more on the history of New York State as the “Birthplace
of Memorial Day,” visit New York’s Hall of Governor’s
website: http://www.hallofgovernors.ny.gov/generic/memorialdayexhibit]